I'm looking to backup a .avi file into DVD format, but before I do I was wondering if anyone could advise which software gives the best quality results.

So far, I have started to follow the guide on this website that gives advise on how to use TMPGEnc, I did start this process but it was going to take around 20 hours to complete the re-encode, so I thought I would wait. The main reason been that the guide state that it give very good results, but not excellent.

I had read elsewhere that DVD Santa was a good option and was also quick so I gave this a try, sure enough it was quick but I wasn't too impressed with the quality, infact I thought the quality once in DVD format had dropped by quite alot from the original .avi file.

So, is there any software that will transfer the .avi file into DVD format without any loss of quality, (Or very little noticle loss).

I also tried DVDSanta and didn't lose quality, but lost some of the first part of each MPG/AVI or whatever I was using. I am interested in knowing what the answer to this is myself. I don't know where to go from here.

try nero 6 with vision express 2 but u need the add in program call the nero mpeg encoder i have burnt lots of avi files with this u get good quality and it only takes a few hours 2 do and it will burn the film aswell so u can just leave it while it does it hope that helps

what is the size of your AVI file, must be huge for tmpge nc to take 20 nours to encode, theres def something wrong there, even if its 3 hrs long.
u didnt say what version of tmpgenc u tried.
the main thing to consider when selecting your mpeg encoder is whether you want to do basic editing (cutting/splitting/joining) to your AVI file b4 u encode it to DVD MPEG-2 format.

its often said that you should always do your editing on the original AVI file prior to encoding (to avoid having to encode to mpeg twice) which leads me to suggesting that this is where TMPGEnc 3.0 express comes into its own.
it has a built in basic editor, and TMPGEnc 3.0 xpress will encode any file type to any file type, unlike lots of other mpeg encoders which will only encode any file type to mpeg.

TMPGEnc 3.0 xpress allows u to import your DV-AVI file, do your editing, then do the encoding on the finished edited project.
TMPGEnc 3.0 is not the quickest encoder on the market by a long shot, but it is definately one of the very top mpeg encoders, with outstanding quality.

anyone who uses nero vision xpress to do any kind of video work is cheating themselves out of good quality video, its probably got the worst reputation of any of the "all in one" programs, and all its good for is burning a dvd file to disc (its encoder is pretty crappy)

DVDSanta is not listed in the top end of mpeg encoders either, WIN-AVI is very fast at encoding, but doesnt have a basic editor, so u have to encode your AVI file to DVD MPEG-2 before editing it with another piece of software. U-LEAD is a good quality encoder but still lacks the flexability of TMPGEnc 3.0 xpress.

we all have different opinions about software, and we all use what we feel comfortable with, and for me using DVIO to transfer my DV vids (AVI) to my pc, then use TMPGEnc 3.0 xpress to edit/encode to dvd mpeg-2, then i use TMPGEnc DVD Author to do my authoring and burning to dvd.
3 very good stand alone programs that will get you a brilliant quality dvd video.
if your after a dvd author program that gives you lots of transitions and effects, and a better variety of menus, use DVD-LAB 1.4, its a better dvd author program than tmpgenc dvd author for variety and selection, and if my clients want a bit of fancy stuff on thier dvd vids, thats what i use too.

good luck, but dont go out cheating yourself out of good quality for the sake of a bit of extra time to encode your vids, quicker is definately not better when it comes to this kind of work.....GLEN

The best software i have used for encoding AVI to DVD/SVCD/VCD is Canopus Procoder 2. It will encode the AVI into an Mpeg1/2 file or a VOB file which Nero will burn to disk for you. Its even fairly easy to use. It allows you to alter the video bitrate to fit onto a 4.3Gb disk and will even sort out the chapters for you. If you cant get hold of version 2 the previous version will encode the AVI into an m2p stream which you will be able to put onto a dvd using ulead movie studio 2 or 3.